Chapter 94: I NEED MY SISTER BACK
Chapter 95
Ren
The tiny movement of her finger against Theo’s wrist vanished as fast as it came.
I stared at her hand, waiting for another twitch, another sign, but Lumi sank back into the still, heavy quiet of the coma. The machine kept up its flat, rhythmic beat.
I carefully lifted Theo out of my lap, placing him on his feet beside the chair. He looked up at me with those big, innocent eyes, clutching his plastic green dinosaur to his sweater.
"Is Mommy coming home now?" he whispered.
"Not yet, buddy," I said, keeping my voice soft as I knelt down to eye level with him. "She needs a little more time to sleep. But she heard you. I know she did."
Before I could stand, the quiet in the hallway broke. High-pitched footsteps echoed outside the room, followed by the deep, raised voices of my guards.
"I told you, nobody goes in!" one of the guards growled outside.
"I don’t give a damn about your orders! Let me through!" a voice shouted back.
I recognized that voice immediately. Julian.
He was an Alpha from the neighboring pack, a powerful, extremely wealthy man, that’s the reason he hasn’t been shot dead by my men.
I stood up, stepping between Theo and the door just as it swung open. Julian burst inside, looking disheveled, his suit jacket unbuttoned, his tie pulled loose at the collar.
He stopped short when he saw me, his breathing ragged, his eyes darting from me to Lumi in the bed, and then down to Theo standing by my knee.
"Ren," Julian gasped out, putting his hands up before I could say anything. "Wait. Hold on. I didn’t come here to fight you."
I held up a hand, signaling the two guards at the door to stand down. They hesitated before stepping back into the hallway and pulling the heavy wooden door shut.
"What are you doing here, Julian?" I asked, my voice flat, devoid of any warmth.
He took a heavy breath, running a hand through his hair.
"I just came from the station. I heard rumors that Neve was arrested. I went down there, but Darren wouldn’t let me see her without your clearance. Ren, what the hell is happening? They’re saying she helped orchestrate an attack on Lumi?"
"She worked with Callum," I said quietly, watching his face closely.
" Neve caught I and Lumi together few days ago, she let her anger take over. She kicked Lumi out, sold her own apartment to leave Lumi homeless, and tried to drive her straight back into Callum’s arms."
Julian closed his eyes, a pained look stretching across his face. He leaned his back against the wall, dropping his head into his hands.
"Jesus Christ, Neve... what did you do?"
"She let her jealousy and anger blind her," I said.
Julian looked up at me, his eyes filled with raw pain.
"Look... I know what she did was wrong, Ren. I’m furious with her. But I love her. I know who she is under all that bitterness, and I can’t just turn my back on her while she’s sitting in a cell. I’m going to protect her."
I looked at him for a long moment. I didn’t feel rage toward Julian. He was an Alpha fighting for his woman, just like I was.
"I know," I said softly, giving him a small nod. "I understand, Julian. You’re doing for her what I am doing for Lumi."
Before Julian could answer, the door handle clicked again. Darren stepped into the room, holding an official legal document in his hand, his expression grimmer than I had seen it all morning.
"Alpha," Darren said, his tone razor-sharp. "We have a problem. Callum just filed an emergency injunction at the city court. He’s here."
"Here?" I echoed, my eyes narrowing.
"He brought two court marshals and a child protection officer to the hospital lobby downstairs," Darren explained, handing me the paper.
"He’s claiming that Lumi attempted suicide, rendering her an unsafe mother. He’s demanding immediate temporary custody of Theo. He’s standing downstairs right now, waiting for the marshals to bring the boy down." My jaw locked so hard my teeth ground together.
"He forced poison down her throat, and now he’s using the hospital record to steal her son?"bJulian’s eyes widened as he looked at the paperwork in my hand.
"Ren, you can’t let him take the kid! If Callum takes him out of this building, he’ll use him as leverage to get away with what he did to Lumi!"
"Over my dead body," I rasped, the wolf under my skin clawing at my chest.
"Alpha, you don’t have legal pack authority over a human court order in the city," Darren warned quietly.
"If we execute Callum downstairs in front of human marshals, it will blow the pack’s secrecy wide open. The elders will lose their minds, and human law will come down on us."
I looked down at Theo. He was holding his green dinosaur, watching us with wide, confused eyes, sensing the thick tension in the air.
Callum thought he was playing a master game. He thought he was backing me into a corner where I had to choose between starting a war with human authorities or handing over his son. He thought he was winning. But he was mistaken. Coming back here was the biggest mistake he’ll ever made in his life.
"Let him take him," I said. Julian stared at me in shock.
"What?! Are you insane? Why would you let him take Theo?"
"Ren..." Darren began, his voice laced with sudden worry.
"Callum thinks he’s walking away clean," I said, my voice dropping into a low, terrifying calm.
"He thinks he has the upper hand. If he takes Theo, he’ll drop his guard. He’ll take him to the location he set up at the docks to wait for his escape. He thinks I have no proof against him."
I turned toward the bed, looking down at Lumi’s quiet face. I leaned over, resting my hand on her shoulder.
"Callum has taken your child," I whispered into her ear, leaning close so only she could hear me.
"You have to wake up, Lumi. You have to fight and come back to me so we can take our boy back together. Don’t let him take Theo from you." I stood up straight and looked at Darren.
"Take Theo downstairs and hand him to the marshals. Tell Callum he won this round."
Darren looked like he wanted to argue, but when he met my gaze, he saw the trap I was laying. He nodded slowly. "Understood, Alpha."
I turned to Theo and bent down with a smile.
"You know mama and uncle loves you right?" He nodded his head like a good child.
"Good. Daddy will come take you so you’ll spend a few days with him because he misses you. But when mama is fine, she’ll come take you. You understand?" He nods again with a smile.
"I’m going with papa to spend a few days but when mama is back home, she and uncle Ren will come pick me up." I pulled him close and hugged him.
"That’s my boy. You’re so smart. Mama will be proud." We held eachother for a while before I pulled away.
"Ren, wait," Julian said, stepping forward as Darren gently took Theo’s hand to lead him out. "What are you going to do now?"
"Callum is already dead," I said, my voice empty of any doubt. "He just doesn’t know it yet. But before I tear him apart, I need to deal with my sister." Julian’s breath hitched.
"Neve?"
"You said you love her, Julian," I said, looking him dead in the eye. "Then come with me. Drive with me to the station. You’re going to help me get through to her." Julian hesitated for only a fraction of a second before giving a firm nod.
"Okay. I’m with you." I turned to the two guards standing outside the door.
"Nobody enters this room. If anyone tries to touch Lumi while I am gone, execute them on the spot." I repeated the exact words I say when I’m leaving her side. And I mean it the same way.
"Yes, Alpha!"
The drive to the pack holding facility was completely silent. I took the wheel of the heavy black SUV, with Julian sitting in the passenger seat beside me.
The rain had started to fall, heavy gray drops smearing across the windshield as the wipers beat a steady rhythm.
Julian stared out the window for miles before finally breaking the silence.
"I don’t understand why you’re letting Callum walk out of the hospital with Theo, Ren. Even as a trap... it’s a massive risk."
"Do you think I’d ever let him keep that boy?" I asked, keeping my eyes fixed on the wet road ahead.
"Lumi is my life. Theo is her life. Callum is using a piece of paper to play a game he isn’t equipped to survive. He thinks he’s smart, but he just signed his own death warrant."
"And Neve?" Julian asked softly. "What are you going to do to her?"
"That depends on her," I said flatly. "I need her to confess. I need her to give me the full truth of what Callum planned so I can burn him to the ground without leaving a single trace of doubt. But more than that... I need my sister back."